Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek has died aged 48

James Van Der Beek, who was best known for playing the 90s heartthrob Dawson Leery on Dawson’s Creek, has died aged 48.

Van Der Beek’s family announced the news with a touching tribute on his Instagram today (February 11).

It read: “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”

Van Der Beek rose to fame Off-Broadway while completing his education in high school before his big break in 1997’s hit TV teenage coming-of-age story, Dawson’s Creek.

Playing the main character, Van Der Beek was based on the show’s creator Kevin Williamson's experiences growing up.

The actor went on to feature in the series with Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams for six seasons.

But the show long surpassed its 90s-2000s popularity when Van Der Beek’s crying face after being dumped by Holmes’ character Joey became the meme of two decades.

In the years after his break, the actor showed up in projects such as The Rules of Attraction, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, and more.

Fans even got to see him in another teen show, where he played a filmmaker in One Tree Hill.

More recently, Van Der Beek featured in CSI: Cyber, and also in voice work, having lent his acting to 69 episodes of the animated Vampirina show.

He was even 'Griffin' in The Masked Singer last year and appeared in two episodes of Overcompensating.

Sadly, Van Der Beek revealed a colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2024, having dealt with it privately since 2023.

Just last year in December, the star told NBC6: "It's been the wildest, hardest journey I've ever had in this lifetime. It's required more patience, more discipline, more strength than I knew I had, quite frankly. But there's also been a lot of beauty in it."

While he revealed he was living more intentionally since his diagnosis, Van Der Beek also warned that colorectal cancer can strike silently, and urged people to get checked.

"I think the biggest misconception is the same one I had, which is that you need to have something seriously wrong with you to get screened for colorectal cancer. You don't. You can have no symptoms and still have cancer," he said.

"There wasn’t any red flag or something glaring," the actor admitted. "I was healthy. I was doing the cold plunge. I was in amazing cardiovascular shape, and I had stage 3 cancer, and I had no idea."

One sign that led to him getting screened was minor changes in his bowel movements.

According to the American Cancer Society, symptoms of colorectal cancer can include bleeding from the rear, blood in the stool, losing weight unintentionally, fatigue, and cramping or abdominal pain.

Van Der Beek is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.